No Hard Feelings generated a lot of buzz when it was released. It was Jennifer Lawrence’s first take in a raunchy comedy and there was significant conversation surrounding the age difference between Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman. I wasn’t able to see No Hard Feelings in theaters, but as soon as I saw it was available to watch on Netflix, I set aside time to watch it. No Hard Feelings was funny, but I don’t think I would go out of my way to watch it again.

No Hard Feelings focuses on Maddie Barker (played by Jennifer Lawrence) as she works as an Uber driver in Montauk, New York. She’s struggling to pay her mortgage for the beach house that her mom left her when she passed away. Maddie’s car is repossessed by her ex-fling Gary (played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach). Maddie has to figure out a plan B since she can’t be an Uber driver without a car. Maddie meets Percy’s parents (played by Matthew Broderick and Laura Benanti) through a Craigslist ad as they are looking for a woman to date Percy (played by Andrew Barth Feldman) and bring him outside of his shell before he goes off to college. In exchange, they will gift Maddie a car. Maddie gets to work at seducing Percy but finds that she starts to care about Percy. Percy challenges Maddie and Maddie reveals things to Percy that she kept buried. Percy eventually finds out about the deal and is hurt that Maddie would use him for her own gain. This forces Maddie to challenge some of the things that Percy has brought to light about herself.

I think the first thing that’s worth mentioning is that Jennifer Lawrence knocked this out of the park. It’s surprising to me that she hasn’t done much comedy before this. I thought this was raunchy and Jennifer seemed in her element. I would love to see Jennifer Lawrence in more comedies in the future. I think the chemistry between Jennifer and Andrew was also charming. By the end of the movie, it’s clear that they have developed a friendship even though they are at different points in their lives. I don’t know if I buy the fact that they will be friends forever, but they both had a significant impact on each other.

This brings me to the conversations that were had when No Hard Feelings was released. There is an age difference between Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Barth Feldman. Jennifer was in her 30s when this movie was filmed while Andrew was 20. I think the reason this was talked about so much was that Andrew looks younger than his actual age while Jennifer is clearly an adult. To be clear, I do not condone or support underage relationships because that is a crime. It’s why the movie Licorice Pizza gives me the ick. Licorice Pizza, for those who aren’t aware, is a movie that centers around the budding relationship between a 15-year-old boy and a 25-year-old woman. Notice how I say boy because a 15-year-old boy is a child versus a 25-year-old woman who is an adult. I do not care how well-acted Licorice Pizza is, it grosses me out. It’s not okay to romanticize this type of relationship and I don’t care about the genders that are involved. Anyone underage (regardless of gender) should not be in a romantic relationship with someone who is over the age of 18. I will say, that I didn’t get the same vibes with No Hard Feelings as I did with Licorice Pizza.

The other interesting thing about No Hard Feelings and the age gap is how this is flipped. It’s extremely common for male actors to be significantly older than female actors. The first movie that I thought of that fits this is For Your Eyes Only which was a Roger Moore Bond film. Roger Moore was 53 while Carole Bouquet (who played Bond’s love interest) was 24. That’s a 29-year age difference which is way more than the age difference in No Hard Feelings. Now granted, Carole Bouquet was in her mid-20s which I think feels a little farther away than 18, however, it’s still a large age gap. I think if we are going to have conversations about age gaps in movies, we absolutely should. These conversations should be created equal and if we are going to be upset about an older actress and a younger actor, we should also feel the same if it’s an older actor and a younger actress.

No Hard Feelings was funny and I’m glad I took the time to watch it. I don’t think the age difference ruined the movie by any means, but I think you could easily tell that Jennifer does look older than Andrew. It wasn’t my favorite romantic comedy, but it was entertaining nonetheless.